She moved to Amsterdam at age 18 and soon became pregnant. She continued to work throughout her pregnancy and returned to work shortly after her son was born.
In the early morning of February 19, 2009, two sex workers went to check on the teenage mother after they realized her usual music wasn’t playing during breaks between clients.
When they entered her brothel, a small room with a bed, dresser and sink covered in plastic, they discovered Betty Szabo’s body.
She was brutally stabbed to death three months after giving birth.
Her baby was placed in foster care but never knew her mother. This fact motivates detectives.
The police immediately launched a murder investigation, but the culprit was not found. They combed through CCTV footage and questioned potential witnesses.
Most of the people looking at naked women through the red neon window are tourists. Police suspect that the perpetrator came from overseas.
Now they are urging people who may have visited Amsterdam to think again with a €30,000 reward to encourage witnesses to come forward.
As Amsterdam grapples with controversial plans to relocate its famous brothels to an “erotic district” on the city’s outskirts, Betty Szabo’s hologram is a poignant reminder of the vulnerability of sex workers in an area that remains dangerous despite various security measures . .
Sex workers have expressed concerns that removing women who sell sex from the public eye could expose them to greater risk.
The fact that such a violent crime could occur in one of the Netherlands’ busiest nightlife spots without witnesses continues to baffle investigators.
In the historic red-light district where she once lived and worked, a teenage sex worker’s digital presence reminds passers-by that her case is still unresolved.
